"Chips Report" from Packers Week 13 Win vs. Patriots

Aaron Rodgers and Randall Cobb were two of the heroes in the Green Bay Packers' 26-21 win over the New England Patriots on Sunday.

Our weekly "Chips Report" will always include two blue chips (outstanding, exceptional play), two red chips (good, although maybe not great) and two cow chips (dud performances). From the Green Bay Packers' 26-21 over the New England Patriots...

 

Blue Chips

  • Wide receiver Randall Cobb—Just as he's done the majority of the season, Cobb became the security blanket for quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and one play stood out above all the rest. Facing third down and just 2:28 left on the clock, Cobb got open for a first down, allowing the Packers to go into victory formation and run out the clock. Cobb had a team-leading seven receptions for 85 yards. Lining up in the backfield was also a nice change of pace, adding eight yards on two carries when Eddie Lacy was being tended to on the sideline.
  • Quarterback Aaron Rodgers—In a match-up of elite quarterbacks, Rodgers out-dueled Brady by a hair. He completed 24 of 38 passes for 368 yards, averaging 9.7 yards per attempt and good for a passer rating of 112.6. Rodgers tossed two beautiful touchdown passes, one to Richard Rodgers and one to Jordy Nelson and should have had a third had Davante Adams not dropped a surefire scoring chance. In a game that didn't have a single turnover, Rodgers' ability to avoid any fumbles or interceptions is a huge difference in the ballgame.

 

Red Chips

  • Linebacker Sam Barrington—The Packers went out on a limb and replaced A.J. Hawk in the starting lineup with Sam Barrington, which turned out to be a huge difference. The newly-appointed starter was assignment sure and made several run-stuffing tackles near the line of scrimmage, a big part of the reason the Patriots were held to less than 90 rushing yards. Barrington's final stat line reads five tackles, a pass broken up and one hit on quarterback Tom Brady. Not bad for his first game in a new role, lining up next to Clay Matthews when Hawk was off the field.
  • Running back Eddie Lacy—Lacy's second and third quarter were run of the mill, but he fought for the tough yards and, most importantly, finished with over 100 yards from scrimmage. He began the game by gaining 51 yards on the game's opening drive, helping to set up the Packers' first field goal, taking a 3-0 lead. Lacy also gained 31 yards on the Packers' second-to-last drive of the game in the fourth quarter, a possession that took 5:10 off the clock and culminated in another field goal, pushing the Packers' lead to 26-21.

 

Cow Chips

  • Cornerback Davon House—When Sam Shields exited the game with a concussion, House was the replacement and was exposed in coverage on the fourth-quarter touchdown pass from Brady to Brandon LaFell. The cornerback failed to turn his head around, and the Patriots pulled within 23-21. Fellow cornerback Tramon Williams was similarly beat for a touchdown, but helped make up for it by making several tackles short of the first-down marker, something House didn't do.
  • Linebacker A.J. Hawk—The cow-chip distinction has less to do with Hawk's play on the field than his poor play that led to the decision by the coaching staff to give Hawk a demotion, taking him out of the starting lineup in place of Sam Barrington. Hawk still played a role at inside linebacker when Matthews was utilized in his old outside iinebacker spot, but failed to make any impact plays like the other linebackers on the team, be it pass deflections or sacks.

 

Brian Carriveau is the author of the book "It's Just a Game: Big League Drama in Small Town America," and editor at Cheesehead TV and its "Pro Football Draft Preview." To contact Brian, email [email protected].

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Comments (33)

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Bohj's picture

November 30, 2014 at 07:20 pm

Bummer that lattimore got hurt. But Barrington's performance was outstanding. Of course belicheck was going to exploit hawk. Didn't get to though. Nice work Dom.

The pats offense certainly changed once shields went out.

Def props to the run D. Especially after the Jonas grey blount monster that's been on display the last few weeks.

Great team win.

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Nerd's picture

November 30, 2014 at 07:54 pm

Run D is holding up.

So far, so good.

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zoellner25's picture

November 30, 2014 at 07:21 pm

Hawk is done as a starter and will now play a situational role only. Blue chip to the coaching staff for this.

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Idiot Fan's picture

November 30, 2014 at 07:25 pm

You're right that House didn't get his head around, but I thought he had pretty tight coverage on that play, and those back-shoulder throws are so hard to defend. I thought the TD that Tramon gave up was waaaay too easy.

I'm also happy to see that the D can still survive even when they don't produce turnovers.

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jeremyjjbrown's picture

November 30, 2014 at 07:52 pm

I also thought that Tramon had a worse day than House.

But, they we good enough to hold the Pats to 21. If the D can continue to play at this level they'll be in good shape.

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Charvid's picture

November 30, 2014 at 08:15 pm

That route on the Tramon TD was pretty dirty though...

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Doug_In_Sandpoint's picture

November 30, 2014 at 07:37 pm

Barrington will help this D jump up another level down the stretch. I really didn't think Hawk was awful this year, but there was a huge difference today with Barrington in there. I am happy for so many reasons tonight.

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aj's picture

November 30, 2014 at 07:42 pm

Wtf!? Adams doesn't get at least a red chip??? I know he had the drop, but he was a stud today, and whoever was on him couldn't stick.

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Nerd's picture

November 30, 2014 at 07:55 pm

The rookies had a good day.

Davante Adams, Richard Rodgers, Sam Barrington (not technically a rookie.)

Dix had some nice plays too.

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Idiot Fan's picture

November 30, 2014 at 07:55 pm

Lots of good to go around, and only so many chips...

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KenEllis's picture

November 30, 2014 at 07:45 pm

The difference between Barrington & Hawk at ILB was vast.

If AJ ever was a player those days are long gone.

Time to pass the torch to Sam B.

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Bearmeat's picture

November 30, 2014 at 07:48 pm

I'll take Barrington's mistakes and aggression over Hawk's reliability. Especially with impact players around him at S and OLB.

Good call Dom. Finally.

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DrealynWilliams's picture

December 01, 2014 at 08:36 am

"I'll take Barrington's mistakes and aggression over Hawk's reliability. Especially with impact players around him at S and OLB. "

*Claps*

Yes.

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HankScorpio's picture

November 30, 2014 at 07:48 pm

You just know that Tom Brady had radar-lock on Davon House after Shields went down. Considering just who replaced the 31 with a bulls-eye, I'm ok with how House played after Shields went down. He didn't play like an All Pro but Brady has made better players look worse.

Off the top of my head, I cannot think of someone I would want to replace House on the cow chip list. I guess I'll chalk that up to 'nice problem"...can't find 2 undisputed Cow Chips.

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Nerd's picture

November 30, 2014 at 07:58 pm

House has good size, but he's a little stiff. He plays tough, but he'll get beat deep now and then. He is what he is.

Seemed to me the defense began struggling after Shields went out. So that was a blow. But they bounced back late in the game. Good to see.

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Idiot Fan's picture

November 30, 2014 at 07:58 pm

I'm a fan of the guy, but Crosby could get a Cow Chip. One missed field goal, one KO out of bounds. I know the weather was not great for kicking, but he's the person who pops into my mind.

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murphy's picture

November 30, 2014 at 08:34 pm

I have a hard time blaming Crosby for the kickoff out of bounds. My question is why were they having him kick short bouncers and line drives most of the night? At one point I had a horrible Dan Connolly flashback.

The missed FG hurt a lot given the game situation, but his other FGs made a difference in a tight game.

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Nerd's picture

November 30, 2014 at 07:57 pm

Offensive line gave Aaron all day to stand back there and stat whore. Kudos.

The run was stuffed for much of the game, but Lacy still got to 100 yards. Good job all around.

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Idiot Fan's picture

November 30, 2014 at 08:08 pm

Even with all that time, it wasn't exactly stat-whoring. The throws were contested and the windows were tight. It gave me hope that we could actually beat a physical D, like Seattle or SF, if necessary.

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sonomaca's picture

November 30, 2014 at 08:49 pm

Mike Neal? He had that one reach around play that seriously disrupted the Pats final drive. Quarles also played well, again. Thought Starks made a couple of nice catches. Daniels was also up in Brady's face more than once.

Didn't see Peppers do much.
'

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sonomaca's picture

November 30, 2014 at 08:51 pm

Not really into Harris' kick off returns. Had a huge left lane and cut it to the right. Couple of other squishy returns.

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4thand1's picture

November 30, 2014 at 09:30 pm

Are you gonna be cow 2.0?

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Allan Murphy's picture

November 30, 2014 at 08:55 pm

Ha ha saved the game on gronk game ball .

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Idiot Fan's picture

November 30, 2014 at 09:04 pm

Yep, that was sooooo close to being a TD.

And how about "Stonehands" James Starks with the huge catch on the wheel route prior to the Jordy TD???

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FITZCORE1252's picture

November 30, 2014 at 09:18 pm

Agreed. To me, that was one of the more impressive plays. Given the recipient.

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DraftHobbyist's picture

November 30, 2014 at 09:05 pm

The House Cow chip is weak. How about DuJuan Harris for offering very little help to the team once again?

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sonomaca's picture

November 30, 2014 at 09:25 pm

I'm thinking they try someone else on kick off returns. Didn't really notice how mediocre he is until the cold weather has caused more kicks to be returnable than earlier in the season.

I will give him credit for not being a fumbler.

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4thand1's picture

November 30, 2014 at 09:29 pm

This Packer's o-line is one of the best in the NFL. The rookie class is great. Adams dropped a sure TD, but I remember James Jones dropping many a pass. Adams will only get better. Richard Rogers is catching TD passes. What will teams do if they have to defend the seem too along with lacy and the running game? The sky is the limit for this team.
GOPACKGO!

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Mojo's picture

November 30, 2014 at 10:43 pm

Wow, it took this long to move Hawk out of the starting lineup. Best move since moving CM3 into the ILB OLB hybrid role.

After a few off target throws in the beginning, ARod was at times amazing, He ran for a few crucial first downs and the touch on his pass to RRod was superb. Clearly he was the difference between the two teams. He's the best player in the league.

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DrealynWilliams's picture

December 01, 2014 at 08:34 am

"After a few off target throws in the beginning, ARod was at times amazing, He ran for a few crucial first downs and the touch on his pass to RRod was superb"

It's insane to think about the amount of points we left out on the field yesterday. I'm thankful we came away with at least FGs.

"Clearly he was the difference between the two teams. He's the best player in the league."

Damn right! We are so spoiled...

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egbertsouse's picture

December 01, 2014 at 08:28 am

Only cow chip: Tackling!

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JimTaylor31's picture

December 01, 2014 at 09:34 am

Adams came up huge IMO. Belicheck had the perfect idea which was to make the #3 WR beat him. On most every team that would have been a successful strategy. Fortunately our #3 (Adams) can go 1-on-1 with most CBs or safetys and win those battles. Nice job by Adams and also Arod for having the confidence in Adams to exploit the Pats strategy.

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